The present invention relates generally to digital imaging systems and methods, and more particularly to systems and methods for combining the image finishing operations of source and destination devices.
In general, a digitized, electronic image may be captured or otherwise produced by a source device in many different ways and delivered to a destination device for finishing in selected ways. As a typical example, an image may be stored in the memory of a processor that is part of a computer network and delivered as a digital image file by a host computer on that network to a printer that renders the image, prints multiple copies of it and punches the copies for insertion in a binder. In another example, the image may be captured by scanning a hard-copy document from a scanner that is part of a computer network and delivered as a digital image file by a scanning device on that network to a facsimile device that transmits the image to a facsimile destination.
In general, the source may be a scanner, an input facsimile interface, an image store, an electronic whiteboard, or some other special purpose device that generates or stores an image, as well as a general purpose computer. In general, the destination device may be a monitor, an output fax interface, or some other image finishing device, as well as a printer.
As used herein, the term “rendering” refers to the process of producing a digital or raster graphics image from abstract image information, such as vector or 3D computer graphics files, Tag Image File Format (“TIFF”) files, Portable Document Format (“PDF”), Joint Photographics Experts Group (“JPEG”) File Interchange Format (“JFIF”), or Microsoft Word® files. The term “finishing” refers to the process of producing the final manifestation of the image, which may include such physical operations as printing, punching, sorting, or stapling, image send, image conversion, as well as rendering.
In practice, the source device and the destination device may have distinct respective sets of finishing operation capabilities. For example, a printer may not have the memory to store an image so as to make multiple copies thereof, while a host computer may have the required memory and the applications program running on the host may provide the finishing operation of making multiple copies by sending a document repeatedly to the printer. On the other hand, the applications program on the host may not include half-tone rendering algorithms, while such algorithms and the selection of that operation may be part of the finishing capabilities of the printer.
Many source devices and the destination devices communicate images and finishing instructions in different respective formats and protocols. For example, a host computer may be running Microsoft Word®, which has a proprietary format, while an associated printer is adapted to use Hewlett Packard Printer Control Language (“PCL”) or Adobe Postscript® (“PS”) formats. To overcome such language barriers, either the host computer or the printer may have format translation capability, such as using a Graphics Device Interface (“GDI”) and a corresponding printer driver on a host computer to translate an application file format, for example MS-Word, to a printer ready format, for example into PCL. Nevertheless, the respective finishing operations that the host computer and the printer support may be different.
Perhaps the most common finishing situation is the use of a printer to produce a hard copy of a document obtained from a host computer; in any case, this process serves to illustrate some limitations of conventional approaches to finishing a digital image where the image is provided by a source device, such as the host computer, to a destination device, such as the printer. Many current devices for printing documents are more correctly referred to as imaging devices because they provide a broader set of functions than simply printing that which is sent to them by a source. More specifically, many imaging devices have a display panel and display control processor that display a variety of document retrieval and imaging operations such as print, copy, scan, fax, image send and store. A user interface (“UI”) program is executed by the display control interface to display symbols representing operation selections, and operation selection is made by an input device which may be the display screen itself where it is sensitive to touch. The latter type of device is commonly known as a “touch screen.” The display control processor is typically programmed in some standard language such as Wireless Markup Language (“WML”) or Extensible HyperText Markup Language (“XHTML”), and the instructions for the display of operations and interpretation of selections are typically, though not necessarily, stored in firmware in the imaging device. When a document is to be printed, it must either be in a printer ready format (“PRN”), such as PCL or PS, or in an image format, for example TIFF, that is supported for direct imaging by the printer, or in an engine ready format specific to the printer (“raster”), or be converted to a printer ready or engine ready format, that is compatible with the printer.
One type of operation for an imaging device is to perform “pull printing.” That is, a user selects an operation on the control panel of the imaging device to obtain a document from a host computer and print a hard copy of it. This is common where the printer is connected to a network, such as a Local Area Network (“LAN”), along with a host computer. The user need not go physically to the host computer to accomplish the printing task; rather, the user may go directly to the imaging device, enter the document identity and location at the control panel, select desired printing operations, and pick up the document once it is printed.
In one conventional way of pull printing the user is able to locate a PRN file somewhere on the network from the control panel of the printer and select it for printing. In this case, the document must already be rendered; however, the options for printing a pre-rendered document may conflict with the user's desired print options.
In another conventional way of pull printing, the user may locate a document on the network whose file format is supported by the printer for direct submission thereto; that is, the printer can process the native format of the document. At the command of the user, the printer downloads the document in its native format and processes it according to printer specific finishing option settings. In this case, the document cannot be pre-rendered, and only printer specific finishing operations can be selected; there is no ability to emulate finishing capabilities at the source device.
In a further conventional method of pull printing the user selects from the printer a file that is in a native format and the printer sends the file to a host computer on the network along with rendering instructions specific to the printer, accepts the rendered document back from the host in PRN format, and prints the document. In this case, only printer finishing operations can be employed, and those which are selected by the user at the printer must be understood by the host.
What the foregoing examples illustrate is that one thing conventional systems and methods for transferring an image from a source device to a destination device for finishing, particularly transferring an image from a host computer to a printer for printing, have in common is that they are limited to selecting from one location either the finishing operations of the source device or the finishing operations of the destination device, but not both.